Naruto's Aftermath
by gtdarkness
Summary: Crossover NarutoxInuyasha set one year after manga 309 Sasuke is back and Orochimaru is defeated. With the capture of a fourth bijuu, Akatsuki's demon's are famished and low on chakra. Where will they find the energy?
1. Chapter 1

Special Text:

**Jutsu**

_**Time or separate place**_

"Conversation"

"_Thoughts"

* * *

_

**_NarutoxInuyasha crossover; a year later after manga 309, Sasuke is back and Orochimaru defeated, Team 7 is reunited! However, Akatsuki capture a fourth biju. With the contained demons famished, Akatsuki must supply them with fresh demonic souls. Where will they obtain it?

* * *

_**

**Chapter 1**

"Hmm…We have a dilemma." The dark shadow responded. The three-day long jutsu, **Fuuin Jutsu: Genryuu Kyuu Fuujin (Sealing Technique: Complete 9 Illusionary Dragon Seal)**, has just been completed on the fourth biju captured by Akatsuki. The towering wooden human-shaped head vanished, in a large puff of smoke, containing the four biju within. The shadow immediately turned around and faced his subordinates.

"What is it leader?" One of the Akatsuki members jumped down and knelt before his master, with his cold-red eyes obediently submissive.

"Itachi…" The shadow looks down upon the Uchiha. "The biju grow faint in their power. They need sustenance in order for them to be useful to us." The shadow informed.

"What shall we do leader?" Another Akatsuki member landed before the shadow.

"Kisame, I have a special mission for you and Itachi." The shadow performed a special set of seals for a summoning jutsu. The members knew exactly what the leader had in mind and performed the same set of seals. They slammed their palms in the ground. The ground rattled and crumbled underneath them. Then, a very small dark oval-shaped portal erupted from the floor. It was about the size of a golf ball and floated in midair in the chamber. It looked like space drifted endlessly in the oval-shaped void.

"You know this portal is once how the biju entered our realm from theirs a long time ago right Itachi?" The shark-faced Kisame mentioned.

"Of course he knows you idiot! Yeah." The blonde member Deidara shouted. "Hey! Dumbass! Are the bodies ready yet?"

"Shut your trap up Deidara!" Kisame shouted, eyeing his associate Deidara, "We already have the bodies ready." Another member of Akatsuki, Zetsu, emerged from the ground, opening up his Venus-Fly-Trap-like head and dropped two moist bodies ready to serve their purpose. The Akatsuki leader formed the necessary seals.

"**Shooten no Jutsu (Shapeshifting Technique)**!" The two bodies rose up to their feet and charka molded around them into the bodies of Itachi and Kisame. The original Itachi and Kisame sat on the floor and closed their eyes, focusing their energy on controlling the jutsu. "Remember, this special summoning jutsu lasts only for twelve hours, so gather as many demons as possible, but only strong ones. We won't be able to use this jutsu again for another year." The shadow warned. The manipulated bodies then entered the portal, and the bodies were sucked into the new world.

**_Feudal era… eleven hours past…_**

Inuyasha and his group continue their journey to complete the Shikon Jewel. While their nemesis Naraku has the larger portion compared to theirs, they are hunting down Naraku. However, today, they're in for a rude awakening.

"Hmm…today's too quiet…" Inuyasha, the half-breed dog demon, pondered. "_There have been no demon attacks and no loose jewels shards in the proximity. No Koga trying to court Kagome, and no Miroku trying to gro…"_

A giant sound of impact resonated throughout the forest they were traveling through. Birds flew away from their nests in complete terror. A sizzling red palm-imbedded hand print scorched the young monk's face. Miroku instantly toppled over, twitching along the dirt. Sango's face was crimson and so was the palm of her hand.

"Miroku, when will you ever learn?" Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched at the unsightly body next to him.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked him. "Don't you think it's weird that's today is so boring. No demons or jewel shards."

"I've been thinking the exact same thing. Maybe we should res…" A giant explosion blasted in the distant forest, living behind a large cloud of smoke in its wake.

"What was that?" Shippo, the young fox demon, looked towards the direction where he heard it. Everyone else as well looked the same direction. "It…It was so powerful!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Finally! Some action!" Inuyasha shouted and jumped into the dense forest. Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo followed along on Kirara.

Inuyasha quickly arrived at the scene of the explosion. He gasped at the sight. A crater about a half a mile in length and about the same depth lay before him. Rubble lay everywhere and in the middle of the crater, was a small oval-shaped orb and two men in black robes outlined with imprints of clouds throwing things into the void. Suddenly, a tiny speck landed on his shoulder, Myoga.

"What's happening master Inuyasha?"

"How should I know? You tell me!"

"I don't know, but I'm not sticking around to find out!" With that said, Myoga jumped back into Inuyasha's robe. Inuyasha only grunted and ran down into the crater

"Hey! What's going on here?" Inuyasha demanded. The two men turned and faced him.

"Yo! Shark Face and Drag Queen! Put that demon down!" Inuyasha demanded just as Kirara and her passengers arrived. "Just exactly who are you!" Inuyasha questioned the weirdly clothed men.

"Hmmm…this dog demon seems to be associated with humans in this realm." The dark-haired man muttered to his shark-faced partner. "He's probably one of the weak ones. We don't need him." The shark-faced man replied. Inuyasha became furious and pulled out his Tetsaiga.

"**Wind Scar!**" Inuyasha slams his blade onto the dark-haired guy, but his attack was blocked by an object wrapped in bandages. Inuyasha looked to his right and say the shark-faced man holding the bandaged object.

"Kisame, you may have fun with these weaklings. I'll put these demons here into the portal." The dark-haired man said and leisurely walked to the void. However, he slightly lowered his head and let a giant boomerang narrowly miss him. The large boomerang then returned to the demon slayer.

"Hey! Who are you guys!" Sango ordered. The dark-haired man turned around, with his eyes shut. He quickly opened them, revealing two red eyes with three tomes slowly spinning. Sango never felt anything as cursed looking as those eyes. Sango's body immediately stiffened at eye contact and her knees buckled.

"Sango what's wrong?" Kagome asked. She knelt down by Sango, who was clutching her head and trembling greatly.

"Th…Thos…Those eyes…" The words that Sango can slowly mutter out. "Don't look into those eyes!" Sango quickly screamed. Everyone gasped. The dark-hair man dumped the last demon into the puny void.

"Itachi. We only have a short amount of time left. Gather as many demons as possible with the limited time. I'll keep these losers busy." Kisame smirked. Itachi nodded and disappeared, leaving a puff of smoke. Kisame then threw Inuyasha's Tetsaiga off his blade and placed his sword on his back. Kisame, in a blink of an eye, performed hand seals.

"**Mizu Bushin no Jutsu (Water Clone Jutsu)!**" The ground under Inuyasha rumbled and three geysers burst from the ground and the water formed into three replicas of Kisame. "You demon shall make a nice morsel for the biju."

* * *

_**In the dark recesses of the Feudal Era…**_

"Hmmm…things are becoming interesting…" A very evil voice smirked. "These two newcomers know of the legendary biju. With that kind of power, I won't need the jewel shards. Now, Inuyasha. Lead me to the legendary tailed demons."

* * *

_**Back to Inuyasha and Kisame**_

"What is this ability?" Miroku stated as he examined the replicas of Kisame surrounding him, Kagome, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara. They formed a circle, facing the replicas. Kisame and the replicas then performed a different set of seals.

"**Suiton: Suikoudan no Justu (Water Element: Water Shark Bullet Jutsu)**!" Four more geysers erupted around the original Kisame and took the form of four water sharks. A shark charged straight for Inuyasha, but when Inuyasha sliced that one with the Tetsaiga, another shark struck him in the back. Then the last two sharks rammed into Inuyasha. The Tetsaiga was knocked out of his possession, and Inuyasha fell over, coughing out blood. He looked up to see Kisame preparing to finish him.

"**Hiraikotsu!**" Sango lands a direct hit on Kisame, but she looked again as her giant boomerang returned to her. The body turned into a puff of smoke, revealing a sliced piece of wood. Sango then felt a very painful scrap against her back. She fell over as well.

Miroku looked on in complete shock. Kisame somehow got into the middle of the circle and struck one of them down. Miroku was about to remove the beads on his right hand, but Kisame reacted faster. Kisame whacked his blade, the Samehada, against Miroku's face. He scraped the rough blade against Miroku's side and the blade latched onto Miroku's abdomen. Kisame threw Miroku up and forcefully slammed him into the ground. The Kisame's force left a decent crater in the ground. Kagome, Shippo, and Kirara looked on in horror at what was happening.

"Who…are you?" Shippo shuttered. He was completely paralyzed with fear. This shark-faced man defeated his whole team without trying.

"That won't matter. All of you are weaklings. Especially that so-called demon." Kisame smirked.

"Inuyasha's not weak!" Kagome shouted. Kisame was really getting annoyed. He drew the Samehada above Kagome.

"**Wind Scar**!" Kisame had no time to react and was hit directly by Inuyasha's attack. Kisame slowly lifted his upper body, but felt claws against his neck.

"Who's the weak fool now? Bastard! I'll kill you without using my Tetsaiga. **Iron Reaver Soul Steal**…" Inuyasha was cut off when someone struck his neck. He instantly tumbled onto the ground, revealing Itachi, carrying a few more demon bodies.

"Kisame, you weak fool." The Uchiha stated "We are done. Our time is up." Itachi walked over to the portal and threw the bodies in. Kisame slowly got onto his feet and placed the Samehada on his back. Then, he kicked Inuyasha's body, awakening him.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha swore. Kisame only laughed and walked off. However, Inuyasha was extremely furious and charged straight into Kisame, knocking Kisame and himself into the portal.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. She immediately rushed after him into the void. Sango and Miroku woke up and followed them as well as Kirara and Shippo. However, once they entered, they were unaware they were being watched by an ominous presence.

"Kukuku Ha ha ha! He laughed. "The legendary biju. Across this void is the ultimate power. These newcomers shall lead me. Ha ha ha!"

* * *

**_Chapter 1 complete. How did you like this story? I know it's unoriginal, but I promise it'll get better. You all know who this evil person is. Team 7 is reconstituted and will make their reappearance in the next chapter. I might plan to make it a little more complicated relationship with Kagome x Sasuke x Sakura triangle thing, or even Sasuke x Sakura x Naruto, or Sakura x Naruto x Hinata. _**


	2. Chapter 2

**Jutsu**

_**Time or separate place**_

"Conversation"

"_Thoughts"_

**Chapter 2: Team 7 RECONSTITUTED!**

"Oh man! It seems like forever since we've been together as a team!" The now seventeen year old blond-haired, whiskered face Naruto Uzumaki cheerfully and extremely loudly shouted to the heavens. He jumped off a branch and did a spin in midair. Then, he grabbed another branch and threw himself high up into the sky. Not much has changed about him though, still sporting his black-orange suit and Konoha headband on his forehead.

"Naruto! You still haven't matured yet! Listen to that voice of yours. It's still as loud and high pitched as long as I can remember!" The returning member of the three-man cell, Sasuke Uchiha shouted, with an actual half-smile. After being saved from the darkness of Orochimaru, he still wears however the sound shirt and black pants. A purple rope belt wrapped around his waist held a kusanagi sword. On the back was the insignia of the Uchiha clan, a fan. Sasuke continued leaping through the dense forest right behind his closest friend.

"Hey! Sasuke-kun! Naruto! Wait!" The kunoichi and medic ninja of the group, Sakura Haruno, quickly caught up to her two teammates. "Naruto! Sasuke-kun and I know that you are very excited, but we've only been away from Konoha on this training mission for one year! A few more hours won't hurt!"

"_But still…what has Naruto been doing during that year…_" Sakura contemplated. She remembered that mission. It was given to them by Tsunade-sama to help them reestablish their teamwork, but their sensei Kakashi was away on another mission at the time. Naruto wasn't exactly being a part of the team during that time either.

However, her thoughts were interrupted when Naruto shouted a request. Sakura looked down and saw Naruto and Sasuke close to a person who was lying on the group. Sakura came down and examined her. The woman was wearing a white shirt, a green skirt, brown shoes, and long white socks. Sakura immediately healed her wounds. The young woman quickly woke up.

"Where am I?" She muttered as she lifted her head. As she looked up, she show the three ninjas, who were about her age, but the one with the black hair and handsome face seemed to cause her attention to focus on him. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" The blond one stated with a big smile. "Who are you?"

"My name is Kagome Higurashi. Do you guys help me?"

"That would be her!" Naruto pointed at his pink-haired comrade.

"Hi! My name is Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you Kagome." Sakura smiled. However, she noticed Kagome's eyes were focused on something else. Sakura looked in the same direction and saw Sasuke in her sight. Sakura became very furious, but yet at the same time confused. She then looked at Naruto, but was even more confused why her head shifted to that direction. She immediately turned her attention back to Kagome.

"What were you doing alone in a forest like this?" Sasuke emotionlessly asked her, while he was constantly shifting his head. Kagome looked at him perplexed. "_Why is he so mysterious?_"

"Don't worry about him. He's Sasuke Uchiha. He may seem tough, but he has a nice side." Naruto informed Kagome. Sasuke glared at Naruto. Naruto gave a big smile back, and Sasuke smirked. Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes noticed a slight movement in the leaves and quickly stepped in front of the group. He pulled out a kunai and knocked away some incoming shurikens. Sasuke threw his kunai at a bush and a body jumped out of it.

"He he he…I have to admit. You're eyes are just as good as your brother." The ominous entity arose.

"Aw! SHARK-FACE!" Kagome shouted in fright.

"My name isn't SHARK-FACE! It's Kisame Hoshigaki! You bitch!" Kisame shouted back. "Tch. I knew you would make good bait, but who knew that you would reel in such big fish." Kisame glared at Sasuke and Naruto. They're rage increased and their charka exploded around them. White lightning sparked and circulated around Sasuke's body. A gigantic blue flame of chakra blazed around Naruto.

"_What power!_" Kagome thought astonished. "_Are they human?_"

"Where…where…WHERE IS MY BROTHER!" Sasuke demanded. His kekki genkai (bloodline) sharingan activated. His eyes became red with three tomoes circling around his pupil. Kagome looked at him in terror.

"You…you have the same eyes." Kagome stuttered. Team 7 looked back at her in surprise. "The one with the same eyes and shark-face over there attack my friends and me in the forest."

"Itachi…" Sasuke muttered. "Sakura!" Sasuke ordered and she responded. "You think you can handle this bastard here?" Sakura smirked and pulled off her gloves. She then cracked her knuckles and nodded. "Alright. Naruto! Let's go!"

The two shinobi vanished. Sakura walked in front of Kagome. Kisame only laughed and pulled out Samehada. "You shall be the second Akatsuki member that I've killed."

_**Somewhere deeper in the forest…**_

Inuyasha was panting and had his Tetsaiga on the ground. His friends, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara were also by his side, exhausted "Damn you…" Inuyasha muttered. He looked up at his opponent. He was slightly exhausted. Inuyasha managed to land a few hits on Itachi Uchiha, but the damage Itachi did to Inuyasha's friends were much more devastating.

"I hope Kagome is doing better."

_**Flashback…**_

_Inuyasha was leaping through the trees with the Tetsaiga in his hands, trying to follow Itachi movements. Inuyasha struck many times, but each hit either landed on a shadow clone or were easily evaded thanks to Itachi's sharingan. "Darn it. Where are you? Coward!" Inuyasha shouted upwards. However, he didn't like what he saw. "**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Element: Grand Fireball Jutsu)**!" A giant fireball rained down upon him._

"_**Backlash Wave**!" Inuyasha used the Tetsaiga and slammed it into the fire ball. The force of the fireball was great, but Inuyasha managed to reflect it back to Itachi. Even though it wasn't a direct hit, it still did considerable damage. Inuyasha huffed and saw Itachi's simmering body lying on the forest floor. Inuyasha landed to perform the finishing attack. When he got close enough to strike it, the body puffed and turned into a log. Inuyasha looked on in shock and felt something sharp against his neck. He looked back and saw the menacing sharingan._

"_**Hiraikotsu**!" Sango threw her giant boomerang at Itachi. Inuyasha quickly freed himself and jumped out of its path. The boomerang hit Itachi, but revealing it's another shadow clone. The Hiraikotsu returned to her. She looked around her for any trace of the Uchiha. Then, a giant shadow cast over her. Sango looked up and saw another giant fireball coming down. Miroku quickly jumped in front of her. "**Wind Tunnel**!" Miroku removed the cover over his right hand and the vortex engulfed the enormous fireball. _

"_Damn it! That coward! Where's the real one?" Inuyasha looked around and saw Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara lying on the ground unconscious. However, when Inuyasha went to check up on them, they turned into crows. The crows then reformed to make three Itachi's all surrounding him. "What the hell is going on?" Inuyasha then slashed one Itachi with the Tetsaiga, but his body turned into crows._

"_You can't hurt me..." Itachi taunted. Inuyasha slashed that one, but it turned into more crows. "You are a weakling..." Inuyasha's rage exploded and destroyed the last Itachi with a Wind Scar. However, this one proved to be crows as well. The crows reformed to form the real Itachi. "You are dead..." Itachi's body dispersed into crows and reformed into Inuyasha's truest nightmare._

"_Ki...Kikyo!" Inuyasha looked at her in sheer terror._

"_Inuyasha...I can never forgive you." A bow and arrow shaped before her. She took her arsenal and aimed the arrow straight for Inuyasha. Inuyasha tried to move but found himself wrapped by familiar green tentacles. Inuyasha gasped at the sight he saw behind him. "Naraku!"_

"_Inuyasha...the jewel shards are all mine." Naraku opened his hand to show a complete Shikon Jewel. "Your friends' lives belong to me." Inuyasha looked behind Naraku and saw his friends' shredded body. Naraku held up his other hand. It was drenched with human blood._

_Kikyo took aim at Inuyasha. "Die..." She released the arrow. It sliced through the air like a knife going through butter. Inuyasha shut his eyes and braced his body. However, instead of an impaling pain, he felt a gigantic bonk on his head. _

"_What the?" Inuyasha looked around to see his friends standing next to him. He looked at them. Sango had many slashes on her arms and legs. Miroku's right arm had a large laceration in it. Kirara looked pretty beaten up. Shippo was covered with dirt, but had a large grin across his face. "You hit me on the head."_

"_Duh! You were all spaced out and that was the only way to wake you up." Shippo explained. _

"_It appeared that the enemy put you in an illusion, Inuyasha." Miroku clarified. "While, the enemy attacked up while you were under his spell."_

"_Damn you..."_

_**End Flashback...**_

"This guy…he's way too strong to be human. What is he?" Inuyasha said. Itachi was standing there, letting the wind blow by, waiting for Inuyasha to make the next move. "Damn it! My body is too exhausted. I can't move…"

Itachi's eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed. "You are not putting up much of a challenge." Itachi pulled out a kunai from his long robe. "I expected more from a demon. You're worthless. This time, you're dead." Itachi rushed towards them at high speed. Inuyasha braced himself, but his body was too tired. He was helpless. His friends were too exhausted as well.

Then, a kunai shoot from the trees and halted Itachi's progression. Itachi stopped and examined the kunai. It looked different from regular kunai. It was trident-shaped at the top instead of the usual diamond, and there was a strange seal on the handle. A vortex in the air suddenly opened and a yellow streak slashed Itachi. Itachi was thrown down onto the ground. Itachi opened his eyes and saw a stream of fire flaming down on him. Itachi was hit by the powerful fire attack. Inuyasha and his friends stared in amazement. Out of the smoke stood two figures, one with striking blond hair, and another with dark black hair.

"Hey, are you friends of Kagome's?"

**Chapter 2 is done. You like this chapter. Naruto's new technique, obvious, but guess what it is. Sasuke and Naruto, the ultimate duo. Wait for chapter three. Sasuke and Naruto vs. Itachi, and Sakura vs. Kisame. You reviewers can also give me thoughts or ideas of what to come as well. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Jutsu**

_**Time or separate place**_

"Conversation"

"_Thoughts"

* * *

_

**Chapter 3: New Techniques**

"Hey, are you friends of Kagome's?"

"Who are you?" Inuyasha demanded. He took a quick glance at their forehead protectors. It looked like a spiral in the shape of a leaf, like the one Itachi is wearing. Inuyasha braced himself. "Are you associates of that bastard? You two carry the same insignia." The blond was greatly offended.

"I'm no friend of a member of Akatsuki!" He shouted loudly. Unfortunately for Inuyasha's acute sense of hearing, the sound reverberated in his head. "We were sent by your comrade Kagome to help you guys out." The black-haired one stated. "Oh by the way," Naruto responded, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'll tell you guys more later." Naruto jumped out of his spot when several shuriken flew his way. Itachi was back on his feet, but exhausted after taking two big hits.

Sasuke finally has a rematch with his brother. "This time…" Sasuke performed some hand seals and held his left hand to the ground. Lightning sparked around his body and a white sparking orb appeared from his palm. "You're not getting away." The sparking starts to make a bird-like sound and intensified. "Die!** Chidori Nagashi (One Thousand Birds Current)**!" Sasuke rushed forward to Itachi with his new and upgraded **Chidori**. Itachi stood up, knowing that this technique is used for assassination, and he still has enough chakra to block it. When he attempted to make seals however, a kunai shot straight pass his side, and something held his arms back. Itachi looked back and saw it was the Jinchuriki.

"You're not getting away. This is for all the pain you've caused for my team. And don't worry, I won't be dead." A vortex opened behind Naruto and sucked him away, just in time. Itachi looked in front of him to see his younger brother right in front of him, with his attack ready to strike. The Chidori made a direct hit…

**Sakura vs. Kisame…**

Sakura pulled off her gloves. She clenched hands and all the veins enlarged. Kisame was actually frightened a bit. "Damn that slug woman…" Kisame thought. Kisame quickly performed a few hands seals. "**Suiton: Goshokusame (Water Element: Five Shark Feeding Frenzy)**!" A spiraling swirl of water erupted from Kisame's sword Samehada sprayed at Sakura. The jet stream of water manifested into five sharks, ready to tear her apart.

Sakura smirked. She built up her chakra to the necessary amount and launched her fist at the five aqua sharks. The force of her punch immediately dissipated the attack. Sakura chuckled at his pathetic attempt.

"Wow…" Kagome thought out loud, "she's strong."

Kisame however, wasn't as astonished. He ran straight forward at Sakura. Sakura punch him with her powerful fist, but the body wasn't the real one. It was a water replication. The water from the replication engulfed her in a sphere of water. "**Suirou no Jutsu (Aqua Prison)**!" The real Kisame revealed himself from the forest cover. "This is where a bitch like you belongs! Now, you'll drown in that trap, leaving your friends open. I'll kill your Sasuke-kun and extract the biju from Naruto!" Kisame gloated.

"Biju?" Kagome pondered.

The kunoichi was really, really angry now. "_Focus…_" Sakura thought. She concentrated her chakra again, but this time, throughout her whole body to all her muscles. She curled her body and released all the chakra, dispelling the prison. "You'll pay for saying those words!" Sakura got up and performed a few hands seals. Green chakra emitted from her palms. "**Shosen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Jutsu)**!"

Sakura rushed at Kisame, letting a barrage of punches on him. However, Kisame blocked each hit with his Samehada, causing Sakura's hits to scrap against the rough blade. Sakura backed off. Blood was dripped from her hands and stained the Samehada.

"Bitch. You are supposed to be the smart one." Kisame taunted. "You go straight into a battle without first thinking through? You are very similar to the Jinchuriki."

She placed her hands together and healed the wounds using her medical techniques. "_Calm down Sakura. Don't let this guy rattle you. I need to end this here and now._" Sakura performed hand seals and chakra emitted from her hands again. She performed a few seals while running towards Kisame.

He slammed the Samehada onto Sakura, but she turned into a puff of smoke. "A replacement?" Kisame said and looked above him. Sakura above slammed her fist into Kisame. Kisame blocked it with the Samehada again. Sakura then leaped off the blade and grabbed Kagome.

"Where are we going?" Kagome asked her.

"Shelter." Sakura answered. She pulled Kagome and herself behind a tree. Kisame looked around and laughed. However, a certain burning sound got his attention. He looked at his blade and found an exploding tag embedded on it.

"_Boom_" Sakura and Kagome held their ears. A powerful shockwave spread throughout the forest. Sakura looked back to see a crater in the spot of the explosion, but no trace of Kisame. Sakura then noticed a shadow looming over here. She turned around to see Kisame standing menacingly in front of her.

"He he he, nice try." Kisame chuckled and lifted the Samehada over Kagome and Sakura. "Die. Kisame pulled down his blade.

"NO!" Kagome held out her hands and a pinkish glow emitted from her. The magical force knocked the Samehada out of Kisame's grip. Sakura saw an opening and lunged at Kisame. She punched and slammed Kisame with all her might and fury. One final hit to the head, and Kisame was out.

"What a powerful technique." Sakura complimented Kagome. While Sakura healed some strained muscles in her arms, Kagome went over to check the beaten body. However, to her surprise, it wasn't the same body.

"Sakura, take a look at this. This body isn't Shark-face." Sakura quickly came over and examined the body. The face was completely different. No longer had it resembled a fish.

"This isn't the real Kisame Hoshigaki." Sakura sadly informed. "It's just another victim used by the Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?" Kagome asked her.

"Don't worry. I'll fill you in more when we find your friends." Sakura said. She motioned Kagome to get on her back. Sakura then leapt through the trees to catch up with her teammates.

_**Naruto and Sasuke vs. Itachi**_

Sasuke's Chidori did hit its target, but it wasn't the real thing. From the puff of smoke, sawdust floated down. "_A replacement_." Sasuke turned around and saw his older brother. Sasuke looked into his eyes. The sharingan had changed into the dreaded Mangekyou Sharingan. However, a small smile appeared on Sasuke's face. Itachi noticed this expression on his younger brother's face. Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan dilated and the veins popped out in his eyes, ready to use the even more deadly Tsukuyomi.

The surrounding area blackened and the forest disappeared. Darkness descended upon the two Uchiha's. Itachi smirked, in this dimension; he was king and could control everything. However, something was off. When he tried to move his body, it was fastened down to something. He opened his eyes to see that he was the one fastened to the wooden cross. He looked forward to see his younger brother in control of his dimension.

"How are you doing this?" Itachi muttered out, but a rope tied around his mouth.

"Brother, taste your own ability on you." Sasuke chuckled. "I'm in control of Tsukuyomi!" He made a few had seals and a Chidori formed. However, Sasuke wasn't finished. In this dimension, he can bend the laws of physics. Before Itachi was about a thousand Sasuke's, each holding a Chidori.

"Now, I'll hit you with every Chidori here for a number of days equal to total population of the Uchiha clan you killed!" With that said, every chirping from the Chidori's increased in volume. The Chidori themselves sparked faster and brighter.

"Chidori!" The Sasuke's lunged straight forward at their stationary bound target. Itachi was actually impressed. He only smirked under his collar as the Chidori's impaled his body. The scenery returned to normal, only with Itachi's body lying down on the ground.

From a few yards away stood Inuyasha, completely astonished at what he saw. "_This person has the same ability as that Drag Queen. They even have the same eyes._" Itachi's body was completely open. Inuyasha saw his chance. "**Wind Scar**!" Inuyasha slashed his Tetsaiga and his attack darted for Itachi. However, he jumped out of the way of the Wind Scar.

"Damn it! That took up the rest of my strength." With that done, Inuyasha collapsed. His friends immediately rushed to his side. They checked his body. There were no major injuries, but they could sense he was out of energy. Itachi took advantage and fire a fireball at them. Out of no where however, they noticed Naruto destroying the fireball with an energy ball of his own.

"_This guy, he moves way too fast_." Miroku thought. "How are you able to move so quickly?" The young Shippo asked.

"Oh, it's just a technique I developed. It's nothing much. Hell, I don't even know what it's named!" Naruto grinned.

Itachi, however, knew exactly what it was. "Naruto…" Itachi turned his attention away from his little brother to the Jinchuuriki. Naruto faced him as well, with complete rage written in his eyes.

"You have become far too powerful. Akatsuki shall have you soon." Itachi diverted his attention.

"Little brother…" Sasuke remained inattentive to his older brother.

"You have achieved the ultimate power. The Mangekyou Sharingan." Itachi commented. "How? Your closest friend should be dead."

Sasuke dipped his head a bit. "Because…he did die…"

* * *

_**Flashback…Orochimaru's hideout about a little more than a year ago…**_

_Sasuke's body lied helplessly completely drained of chakra. Next to him was Naruto, drained of his chakra as well, but he was still inching towards him, even after taking every hit of Sasuke's attacks repeatedly. Yet, he somehow found the strength to continue and actually lead to a draw with Sasuke in his Cursed Seal Level 2 form, without Kyuubi. _

"_That loser!" Sasuke shouted in his head. "How could I let him beat me even in my most powerful form! Where is he getting this much power?" Sasuke examined Naruto inching closer to him._

_Sakura and their replacement leader Yamato were having a hard time dealing with Orochimaru. Sai, their replacement team member, was busy as well with Kabuto, Orochimaru's medical subordinate. Sasuke looked at them all, knowing fully well that he can easily defeat them all, but Naruto._

"_He may even have the power to defeat my brother! Even without using the nine-tails!" Sasuke's angered expression softened. "Why Naruto?" Naruto stopped and looked up to him. "Why do you go this far for me?"_

_Naruto only smiled. "Because you are my friend."

* * *

_

**Chapter three is done! Thanks to those R&R. Continue Please! I want to try to hit 10 reviews at least, but 15 would be nice before the next chapter rolls. However, I'll still uptake as soon as possible. Also send hints or ideas to help this story to continue longer. Sasuke now has the Mangekyou Sharingan, but Naruto is still alive? Sai has to do something with this occurring. Kakashi won't make an appearance till later though. Thanks _The Violent Tomboy_ for the review on that error I made. I know that Chidori came from Kakashi, but I wrote the dialogue wrong. What does _Mary Sue_ mean? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Jutsu**

_**Time or separate place**_

"Conversation"

"_Thoughts"

* * *

_

**Chapter Four: Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan**

"Because…he did die…"

_**Continued Flashback…Orochimaru's hideout one year ago…**_

"_Why do you go this far for me?"_

_Naruto only smiled. "Because you are my friend." Naruto lifted his head and took a good look at Sasuke. "You are the Sasuke Uchiha I know. The one that has been in darkness for almost three years. The Sasuke that has a bond with me, as brothers."_

_Sasuke looked at him in complete shock. He twisted his head to look at the bright blue sky. "For almost three years, I've forgotten what a bond of friendship felt like. It felt better than anything else in my life. Sakura Haruno, Kakashi Hatake, how much did you change over the years?" Sasuke tilted his head to look at his newest friend. "Sai...although I don't know you, you reminded me about the bonds I had." Sasuke put a light grin on. "I was a fool."_

_Sasuke delved deeper into his memory, remembering the time when he witnessed his parents death at the hands of his older brother, Itachi. The blood of the horrific event still stained his mind. The corpses still litter Sasuke's mind. Remembering his promise to avenge the Uchiha clan. "But...although I swore to kill my brother...and I have a bond of hatred with my brother...maybe I went about it the wrong way." Sasuke took another look at Naruto, whose still inching closer to him on the battle-worn ground. "Naruto…" Sasuke muttered. Naruto stopped to listen to him. "You've become strong the right way. You're the true genius, I'm the dobe."_

_Naruto looked at him in complete shock. "Did…he just compliment me?" Naruto thought dumbfounded. "Now for sure, he is the Sasuke Uchiha I know. After all this time separated, he still acknowledges me the most out of everyone." Naruto let out an extremely big grin. However, to his surprise, Naruto heard some giggles. He looked at Sasuke to see he was actually **laughing**! Naruto joined in as well._

_Sai heard the laughter. A smile appeared on his exhausted face. However, this was different. Kabuto stopped his assaults to actually witness something he'll never see again. Sai, an emotionless ANBU root member, is releasing tears of joy. "I have completed my mission..." Sai pulls out his drawing pad and draws his final painting. "**Ninpou: Choujuu-Giga (Super Beast Illusion Sketch)**!" The three creatures took form into three very large beasts: one frog, one snake, and one slug! Kabuto stood there petrified in the shadows of the gigantic beasts. "I'm done playing. You and Orochimaru are dead." Sai then ordered his beasts to attack Kabuto._

_The laughter did not go unnoticed. From a distance, Sakura as well heard the merriment. "Sasuke…he's back…" Tears rolled down her eyes. She was filled with joy. After about three long years, he's finally back. However, she let her guard down..._

_Orochimaru summoned a giant snake to attack Sakura. Yamato used his moku justu (wood technique) to summon a tree to surround Sakura. The tree repelled this snake's bite, but a second snake lashed Yamato with its tail into a wall. Yamato was knocked out and his tree withered away. Sakura ran to help her commander, but a hoard of snakes slithered into her path. The snakes reformed into a duplicate of Orochimaru._

"_Sasuke…" The real Orochimaru a few yards away from his duplicate looked at his former apprentice disgusted at the sight. "You're not longer useful to me." Orochimaru's duplicate launched itself at Sakura. Sakura punched the duplicate, but it split into dozens of tiny snakes constricted and bit her. Sakura immediately felt the bites and venom of more than a dozen snakes. She toppled over, unable to move her body._

"_This venom…" Sakura thought and analyzed her situation. "I can't move."_

"_The apprentice of my former teammate Tsunade." Orochimaru chuckled as he walks up to his paralyzed prey. "I expected better from you. I won't kill you yet though. You did me a favor by killing Sasori. I have a personal matter to attend to first."_

_Orochimaru let Sakura go for the moment. He opened his mouth and a snake popped out. The snake opened its mouth to expel the **Kusanagi no Tsurugi (Sword of the Heavens)**. Orochimaru wielded his blade and walked to his former apprentice _

_The two shinobis' laughter finally stopped. "This fight is over." Sasuke said._

"_Yeah…Too bad I couldn't beat you!" Naruto added._

"_In your dreams dobe!" Sasuke replied. The two of them burst into laughter again. However it was cut short when a shadow appeared over Sasuke. Sasuke looked up to see his former sensei holding the sword to his head._

"_Sasuke, after all this time training you, this is all you have to show!" Orochimaru lifted his sword high pointing upward. "I'll carve out your eyes and place them in another body!" Orochimaru stung his blade down. Sasuke tried to move, but his body was still too worn out from the last battle. Sasuke closed his eyes and waited for the end. However, it never came. Sasuke opened his eyes to see Naruto protecting him with his body. _

"_s…sa…sa…sas…sasuke…" Naruto's body fell on top of his body. Sasuke could sense Naruto's heart. There were no pulsations. Sasuke gasped at the sight of Naruto on him. He was dead, killed by the man who broke their bond. _

_Orochimaru chuckled as he removed his sword from Naruto's back. "Kukuku! Ha! Sasuke, have I trained you for nothing? You need this brat to die so you can survive? Is your life that precious to you? If it is, run, and run and cling desperately to life!"_

_Sasuke gasped at the words Orochimaru stated. Sasuke delved into another painful memory. "Foolish little brother, if you want to kill me…Live Miserably! Hate me! Survive through the ugliness. …Run…Run…Learn to Survive. Hate, spite! And survive pathetically! Cling desperately to life." Sasuke was immediately enraged by these words._

_Elsewhere, Sai noticed the developing events. "I have to end this now." Sai ordered his three beasts to finish Kabuto. Kabuto stared helplessly as the giant snake, frog, and slug surrounded him. The three beasts spat ink that changed into a corrosive substance. Kabuto used his mystical palm technique to neutralize the acid. However, the three ink creatures jumped and crushed Kabuto drowned in a lake of ink._

_Sasuke was infuriated. He clenched his fists and gave Orochimaru a deafening stare with his Sharingan. Large amounts Chakra was releasing from Sasuke, but wasn't the cursed seal chakra. Sasuke, despite his exhaustion, lifted the dead Naruto off him and stood up. "I'll avenge you Naruto! That's a promise!" Sasuke shouted. Chakra was rushing to Sasuke's eyes. The three tomoe sharingan morphed into its ultimate form, the Mangekyou Sharingan._

"_Where did he get such power?" Orochimaru thought._

"_Is…is this the type of power Naruto had?" Sasuke pondered. "This power is much stronger than the cursed seal's. This is my true power!" Sasuke shouted. He stretched his eyes wider and veins emerged from his eyes. The wheel of the mangekyou sharingan also enlarged. "**Tsukuyomi**!" _

_The darkness of the genjutsu settled around Orochimaru. Orochimaru found himself crucified on a wooden cross. Sasuke slowly walked towards Orochimaru, savoring Orochimaru's distress. "You used me!" Sasuke stated. "Drove me away from my home village and destroyed the bonds there! I'LL KILL YOU!" The mangekyou sharingan expanded once again. He narrowed his eyes and focused on Orochimaru's restrained body. "**Amaterasu**!" His eyes widened and beamed the ninjutsu straight at Orochimaru. Orochimaru felt an extremely fiery sensation along his body. The cross he was crucified to started burning a black flame that engulfed Orochimaru. Orochimaru, for the first time, felt true pain. His snake-like body couldn't slither away this time. _

_Sasuke however was having a difficult time maintaining the mangekyou sharingan. "Dammit…just a little longer…one more attack." Sasuke bent down and picked up the Kusanagi no Tsurugi. "Orochimaru shall die by his own sword." Sasuke tightened his grip on the sword. The sacred blade emitted a dark blue aura and flames burst from the Kusanagi no Tsurugi. "The last ability of the mangekyou sharingan. **Susanoo**!" The flames intensified. Sasuke pointed the blade at Orochimaru and drove in. "This ability is using up too much chakra. I only have one shot." Sasuke drove the burning sword into Orochimaru. The blade impaled straight through his body. Orochimaru let out a horrendous screech of pain. His entire body melted in the mixing of the black and blue flames. _

"_It's finally over." Sasuke let out. The genjutsu dispelled, leaving no trace of Orochimaru. Sasuke's Sasuke turned around and walked up to Naruto's dead body. "Naruto, I am sorry." Sasuke confessed. "You idiotic dobe! I should've died! But you, had to protect me!" Sasuke knelt down and slammed his fists into the ground. "Why? Why don't I have the power to ever save anyone? First my parents, and now, my best friend!" Sasuke recomposed himself and picked up the body._

"_The venom; it finally wore off." Sakura lifted herself off the ground. Yamato woke up from his unconscious state. "It appears that we've won this, but at what price?" Yamato questioned himself. He and Sai joined up with the rest of team 7. Sakura looked into the distance. She narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the figure walking to them._

"_It's Sasuke!" Sakura shouted with great joy. She ran up to her friend she hadn't meet for almost three years. However, when she arrived, Sakura noticed that something was wrong on Sasuke's depressed face. Tears were trickling down his face that landed on the face of Naruto in his arms. "Sasuke, is Naruto alright?" Sakura took a look at Naruto's pale face. She gasped at what she saw. As a top-ranked medical ninja, Sakura can diagnosis the condition of her patients just by looking at them. "Nar…naruto…" Sakura collapsed with grief. Tears streamed down from her eyes. Sasuke knelt down next to her and placed Naruto on the ground. He walked a few feet and began digging into the battle worn earth._

"_Wha…what are you doing Sa…Sasuke?" Sakura dried her tears to see Sasuke digging._

"_Naruto deserves a proper funeral." Sasuke emotionlessly said. When he was finished digging, he picked up Naruto's body._

"_Not yet." Sakura said, stopping Sasuke. "I promised that I would be able to protect the both of you. I can't keep my promise if one is dead." Sakura took another glimpse at Naruto's peaceful face. "I witnessed a resurrection jutsu before by a sand ninja named Chiyo that relied on the life force instead of chakra."_

_Sasuke's eyes widened at this response. "No…" Sasuke flatly stated. "Naruto wouldn't like it if you did that. He kept his promise to you. Is that right?" _

_Sakura remembered that promise Naruto made all those years ago. "I'll definitely get Sasuke back home! It's a promise of a lifetime!" "Sakura! I will…keep my promise no matter what!" "I won't break my words so easily. That's my way of the ninja…" This memory made her cry even more. _

"_Naruto doesn't deserve to die…" Sakura sniffed and cleaned away her tears. "He's done so much for the village, you Sasuke, and me. So please Sasuke! Let me use the resurrection jutsu!" _

_Sasuke looked at Sakura's face. He turned to Yamato. Yamato nodded. "Alright…" Sakura stared at him with surprise. "If it truly matters this much to you." He placed Naruto on the dirt. Sakura then placed her hands on his heart._

"_Wait…" Sai added. "Sakura instead of your life force…use mine…" The whole team looked at him in complete shock. "I'll say this again, even though I don't know Naruto that much…he is willing to chase Sasuke this far. And me with him, I must have a reason to be here. My mission is to protect the bonds between Sasuke and Naruto. I believe this is my reason."_

_Yamato and Sasuke understood his feelings. "Okay…" Yamato conceded. "Sakura, continue using Sai's life energy." Sakura nodded. She looked at Sai's face. His feelings were true. He had no regrets. Sai placed his hands on Naruto's heart. Sakura placed hers over his. Green chakra emitted from Sakura's hands. Sai felt as if he was slipping away, but he didn't care, as long as he completes his missions._

"_Where am I?" Naruto thought. He looked all around. He was in a blank void of emptiness. He looked up to see a hand coming down to help him. It looked like Sai. Naruto raised his hand and grabbed on. Sai pulled him up from the void._

"_What…What happened?" Naruto slowly opened his blue eyes, and saw three figures above him. "Sakura? Sasuke? Yamato?" Naruto slowly muttered._

"_You're back!" Sakura shouted. She wrapped her arms around his neck, with tears of joy streaming from her eyes._

"_Sakura?" Naruto weakly muttered. "Where's Sai?"_

_Sakura let go of Naruto. She backed away with her head drooping. Sasuke turned his head away and Yamato's eyes were looking down. Naruto looked past them to see a body lying behind them. "Sai? Hey! What's the matter? You shouldn't be sleeping at a time like this!" Naruto shouted happily._

"_Naruto…" Yamato interrupted. "He's not sleeping."_

_Naruto gave a long stare. First at his teammates, then at Sai's body. He understood everything at that moment. "Why…" Tears trickled down from his eyes. "Why did he do it?"_

"_It was his mission." Sasuke added. "He's a part of ANBU 'root', isn't he? It's his job to complete his mission. His mission to protect our bonds."_

_Naruto calmed down. He slowly pushed his stiff body up. "Sai, you put up your life for us." Naruto picked up his body. "At least have a proper funeral for him."_

"_Alright…" Yamato said. "The mission is a success. It's time to head home." Team 7 silently agreed and headed home.

* * *

_

_**End Flashback**…_

Sasuke opened his eyes again. His sharingan eyes narrowed on his older brother. He drew his kusanagi "Remember this blade brother? It's the blade used by that snake bastard. Although it may have belonged to him, this sword will kill you by my hands!" Sasuke's sharingan transformed into the mangekyou sharingan. "**Susanoo**!" The Ksusanagi blazed a dark blue aura. Flames burst from its blade. "I have only one shot." Sasuke lunged forward at full speed. "But with these eyes, I can't miss. HA!" They met in a burst of blinding light.

"What power!" Sango, the demon slayer, stared at the attack. "Who are these people?"

The light fainted. A body flew in their direction. It was Sasuke's! Naruto caught his comrade's flying body. "What happened?" Naruto questioned. He looked at Itachi. His hands were blazing the same dark blue flames. "No way! He has the same technique as Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

"Little brother...you have grown much stronger, but not strong enough." Itachi collapsed on the floor and passed out.

Sasuke's body ruffled a bit. Naruto placed Sasuke's arm around his shoulder. "Nice job. Sorry it didn't work out though." Naruto said. Sasuke smirked and passed out as well.

Shippo, the young fox demon, cautiously walked towards Itachi's body. He looked at the body, but it wasn't the same. "Hey guys!" Shippo shouted. "Come look at this!" Everyone soon joined up with Shippo. Miroku, the monk, examined the body once more. "This is not the same person."

"You're right." Naruto stated. "They used this technique again. Those cowards. Using another person's body to do the dirty work."

"Oh, by the way thank you for helping us." Sango said. Kirara meowed in agreement.

"Thanks!" Naruto said. "By the way, who are you guys, and…why does he have dog ears?" Naruto looked at Inuyasha's head. The ears twitched at bit. "Are they real?" Naruto got closer to get a better look at them.

At the same time, Sakura joined in with Kagome. "Hey you guys!" Kagome shouted. She ran up to reunite with her group. "How's Inuyasha?" Naruto moved aside to let Kagome look at Inuyasha's beaten up body.

Naruto placed Sasuke next to Sakura to let her heal him. "So who are you guys?"

"I'm Kagome." The miko priestess reincarnation stated. "This Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, and Inuyasha!" All the stated members greeted the ninjas happily.

"I'm Sakura Haruno." The pink-haired kunoichi introduced.

"Sasuke Uchiha." The dark-haired shinobi said.

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" The blonde haired shinobi grinned.

"Hey!" Inuyasha said while trying to get up. "Where are those bastards that attacked us!"

"Stop worrying! These ninjas saved us!" Kagome explained. Inuyasha gave them a disgruntled look.

"_How strong are these guys?_" He thought.

* * *

**Chapter 4 is done! That was a really long flashback starting from chapter 3. Sasuke and Itachi both have the three abilities of the mangekyou sharingan now. Poor Sai, dying to protect their bonds. R&R some more. Sorry about not having Inuyasha in this story that much. He and his group will make more appearance when they interacting with the other ninjas in Konoha.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Jutsu**

_**Time or separate place**_

"Conversation"

"_Thoughts"

* * *

_

**(A/N): I spend up time and past the intro part where Inuyasha and Naruto tell each other about their life, stuff, and blah, blah, blah.

* * *

**

**Chapter 5: Konoha, Inuyasha's entrance!**

_**Watching from afar…an unnerving entity**_

"Heh…he…" The evil voice chuckled. "This is the world of bijuu's." The malicious entity took a look around his new settings in his baboon cloak. "And what luck…a jinchurriki is already close by." He lifted his arms and swarms of killer insects flew in all directions.

"First…I must find some followers."

* * *

_**Akatsuki's Hideout…**_

Itachi and Kisame awakened from their meditation. Their chakra ties with the bodies were cut off.

"It appears that it didn't go as planned, Kisame-sama." Tobi, the young subordinate of Zetsu, commented.

"That dame nine-tailed jinchuriki!" Kisame hollered. "Even with 70 of our chakra they still took both of us down."

* * *

_**Forward in time…introductions made…**_

"So let me get this straight…" Inuyasha began, "you three are all so-called 'ninjas' and live in this supposed 'hidden village'?" Inuyasha's group still skeptical of Naruto's story. Kagome; Sango, the demon slayer; Miroku, the perverted monk; and Shippo, the young fox demon or kitsune were hitching a ride on Kirara.

"You must have a great life!" Shippo exclaimed. "All we do is just travel, but you guys get cool missions!"

"It isn't that great Shippo." Sakura, the kunoichi or female ninja of Team 7, explained. "We are always in constant danger, and usually lose our lives." Team 7 continued to leap from branch to branch, and Inuyasha the same.

Naruto glared at Inuyasha. Inuyasha glared back as well. Naruto quickens his pace, and so does Inuyasha. Soon, they were engaged in an all out race, and eventually let the rest of them behind.

"Inuyasha! Get back here!" Kagome angrily shouted.

"You dobe!" Sasuke shouted as well, "Get your stupid ass back here!"

"It can't be helped…" Miroku sighed. "Especially when _someone_ makes fun of Inuyasha's ears. But those whisker marks on their friend's face are strange as well." Miroku commented.

"That's true…" Sango rubbed her chin. However, while pondering on the thought, a warm feeling came up her rear. Her face turned instantly red. Sango slowly turned her head, giving Miroku a glare of impending doom.

Sakura looked back to see his body soaring in the air. She sighed and decided to help him. She leapt through the canopy of the forest and caught Miroku's body. However, as soon as she landed on a tree, the same warm feeling rose up her rear, but this time the groping was under the skirt.

"You _ASSHOLE_!" Sakura through Miroku's body back into the air. She flexed her superpower-filled muscles and followed his body. Miroku opened his eyes and saw a very, very furious Sakura grinning maliciously. Her fist slammed into his gut. Blood spat from his mouth, and he could feel having almost all his ribs shattering in his chest. Miroku's body instantly dropped to the ground, and created a decent size crater. The rest of them, except for Naruto and Inuyasha whose way ahead of them, stopped to witness the spectacle.

"Sakura…" Sasuke arrived to see her handy work. "You over did it again."

"He had it coming!" She shouted back. She knew she had to heal the pervert, but she wouldn't like it. Kagome, Shippo, Sango, and Kirara came down to also see her work. Miroku was back on his feet in no time and they continued on their way to the hidden leaf village.

_**Ahead by about a mile…Naruto and Inuyasha…**_

Naruto and Inuyasha finally stopped to take a breather. "Not bad…dog ears…" Naruto said sarcastically.

"Not so bad yourself…whisker face." Inuyasha huffed.

They both fell on their asses to relax. However, as tired as they were, their determination to win was still as high as ever. Naruto quickly got back on his feet and jumped away, with Inuyasha following nearby.

"Hey dog ears!" Naruto shouted loudly. "How are going to win if you don't even know where the finish line is?"

"Feh, that won't matter in about a few minutes. I can smell the presence of people close by." Inuyasha commented. Within a matter of minutes, Naruto could see the gates of Konoha, his home village. He hasn't been there for a year.

"_I wonder how much it has changed_." Naruto thought. That place was home to him. Naruto closed his eyes to remember his past experiences in his home village. The academy, the first day of team 7, the chunin exams… "_DAMMIT I'M STILL A GENIN_!" This short reverie allowed Inuyasha to take the lead and finish first by the gates.

"You're really slow whisker face!" Inuyasha gloated. He laughed boastfully in Naruto's face. However, Naruto kept his calm disposition. Inuyasha noticed that Naruto was chuckling. "What's so funny?" Inuyasha glared at him. In an instant, Naruto was gone from his sight. Inuyasha rapidly looked in all direction, trying to find a trace of the blond shinobi. Then, he felt poking on his back shoulder. Inuyasha turned around to find Naruto's big grin.

"How'd…you were…now here?" Inuyasha rambled. "You were toying with me the whole time."

Naruto began to laugh boastfully a bit, and then calmed down. "Don't worry about it! But, we have to wait for our teammates first before we can enter." Naruto and Inuyasha took a seat and waited for their comrades. After a few minutes, the whole team finally arrived.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted angrily. "SIT!" With that, he plummeted to the ground. Sakura also whacked Naruto on the head with all her super strength.

"What was that for!" Naruto and Inuyasha shouted simultaneously.

"For being idiots running off like that!" Sakura shouted. Inuyasha gave them both very angry glares, Naruto only grinned sheepishly. "But we're here anyways." Sakura sighed. "Let's go, I've think team 7 has been away for too long." Sakura opened the iron gates and the entry to Konoha.

Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara looked in complete awe. The village was huge to them. They strolled in slowly, letting their eyes take in all the sights before them. Inuyasha could smell the bustling people. He took a look at the mountain standing above the village. Five faces were carved into mountainside. "Who are they?"

"They're the Hokages." Naruto explained. All eyes of Inuyasha's group meet on Naruto. "They're the top ninjas and leaders of the Hidden Village of Konoha. Four of them are deceased, but the fifth and current Hokage is Tsunade-baa-chan." Naruto continued to stare at the mountainside, remembering his own dreams. A large smile spread across his face.

"Hello?" Shippo waved his hands in front of Naruto, snapping him back to reality.

"Lost in your daydreams dobe?" Sasuke smirked. "I'm going to report to Hokage-sama that we have completed that training mission." Sasuke disappeared faster than a blink of an eye, leaving Naruto and Sakura with the newcomers.

"Hey Sakura." Sakura turned her attention to Naruto. "Your mother is probably anxious to see you. That one-year training mission is the longest you have ever been away from the village." A big grin spread across his face. "Don't worry about these guys; I'll make sure they will be fine!"

"Hey Naruto!" Shippo shouted while riding on Kagome's shoulder. "What about you? What about your family?"

Naruto's head and shoulders drooped. His smile disappeared as well. A sense of depression spread around Naruto. Sakura noticed his expression and decided to take her leave. But, Naruto bounced back and put another grin on his face. "Aren't you guys hungry? Do you like ramen?"

Inuyasha's ears immediately sprang up when he heard the word. "They've got ramen here!" He shouted.

"Yeah, at Ichiraku's! He makes the best ramen! Follow me!"

_**Hokage's Tower…**_

The days just seem to past by. Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, had laid her head on the piles of unfinished documents on her desk. Sasuke had just popped in to see her in the undignified position. He poked her head to make sure Tsunade was still alive.

"Huh…what?" She lifted her head up. Tsunade looked at the person in front of her desk with a half-awake blank stare. "Oh, Sasuke Uchiha. I see that the training mission went well. At least it's better than having you under house arrest for the rest of your life." Sasuke gave a very irritated look at Tsunade. He broke into a small chuckle.

"Anything interesting along the way?" Tsunade asked as she drank her very caffeinated coffee.

"We ran into my brother and met a demon." Tsunade spat her coffee all over her work after hearing the bluntness of the response.

"What? Where are they now!"

"We took care of them. It appeared that Akatsuki were interested in this demon, or half-demon, and his friends for some reason. We let the half-demon and his friends into the village for safety." Sasuke informed.

"Bring them here immediately. I want to make sure that everything is all right." Sasuke listened to Tsunade's command and left in a blink of an eye.

**_Ichiraku's Ramen Stand…_**

Inuyasha and Naruto were having another competition. Inuyasha loved the ramen made at the stand as much as Naruto. After seeing the amount of ramen Naruto can devour, Inuyasha demanded to see who can eat the most ramen.

"I'm" _munch _"going" _munch _"to" _munch _"lose" _munch _"to" _munch _"you" _munch _"whisker" "face" _munch. _Inuyasha mumbled out while trying to eat at the same time. After both of them finishing their tenth bowl, they could eat no more.

"Check…please…" Naruto mumbled. Ayame calculated the bill and handed it to Naruto. Naruto sighed after looking at the price and paid up a hefty amount of cash. Sasuke came in just in time to see both Naruto and Inuyasha fall off their seats.

"Yo dobe, Hokage-same wants to have a word with our friends here." Sasuke informed. Naruto waved his hand, signaling go ahead. Inuyasha and his group followed Sasuke to the Hokage Tower.

"_Maybe I should head home. Damn…ate too much…_" Naruto felt too full to jump over the buildings so he took the road back.

The village hadn't changed much while his team was away. He wanted to go sightseeing in his home village. Everyone he knew seemed to have grown up a lot. That made Naruto even more excited to be back in the village. Along the way he met some familiar faces.

"Shikamaru! Chouji!" His two long time friends were having a conversation with their backs turned towards Naruto. Naruto shouted, interrupting their discussion. "It's great to see you two!"

"Hey!" Shikamaru greeted. "If it isn't the most troublesome guy I know! How's your little extra year-long expedition away from Konoha?"

"Great!" Naruto shouted again. "So…when are the next Chunin exams?" Shikamaru's and Chouji's mouth both dropped to the ground, realizing that after almost four years, he was still a genin.

"You're seriously still a genin!" Chouji yelled. "Even Shikamaru and Hinata have become Jounins!"

Naruto eyes widened seeing how much he was left behind by the Rookie Nine and Team Gai he grew up with. Not only Neji, but Shikamaru and Hinata have reached the top level of ninjas. A smile appeared at the corners of his lips. "_So, the laziest guy in Konoha has suppressed me in ranking. And Hinata, great job! I always knew you were strong."_

"Thanks for informing me! I should head home!" Naruto pulled out his special kunai. Shikamaru took a quick glance at the oddly shaped kunai before Naruto's body disappeared in a flash before them. They both blinked once and he was already gone. Chouji spun his head around, looking for any signs of the blond shinobi. Shikamaru stood there, knowing fully what had happened.

An air void opened in an apartment and Naruto landed in his room. Naruto took a look around, letting the sight of his home be ingested by his eyes. Even though it was small and dusty, it was the only true home Naruto knew. Naruto lay on his bed and rested his worn out body. When he woke up, the sun was setting. He went to his opened window to take a look at the plant he started growing before he left for the training mission. It had grown about a foot high and a floor had bloomed on top. He sniffed the flower. The aroma of the flower made him sneeze. When he opened his eyes, he saw another familiar person walking down the street, carrying some flowers. Naruto decided to greet the person. He pulled out his kunai and flashed into the air void.

Hinata was walking down the street towards the run-down apartment building where Naruto lived. She heard from Shikamaru that Naruto and his team arrived home in the afternoon. She also found out from Shikamaru that Naruto has a very powerful new jutsu. She gathered some courage to buy flowers and was going to leave them at his doorstep. Hinata promised herself that she wouldn't faint as long as nothing surprising happens. She then felt a hand on her shoulders and heard his voice. The flowers slipped out of her hands, and she instantly fainted, falling backwards.

Naruto stopped Hinata's fall and gave her a very confused and concerned look. Her face was completely red again. "_Why does she have to be all weird like this when I'm around?_" Naruto also noticed the flowers that she dropped. "_Wonder who they're for?_" Naruto decided to bring her in to make sure she'll be alright. He laid her on his bed and went into his kitchen to fetch an ice pack. Hinata looked like she had a fever.

After a short while, Hinata slowly opened her pale white eyes. The first thing she saw was a dingy ceiling above her. She tilted her head to see where she was. Hinata's face flushed again when she realized she was in Naruto's apartment. "Na…Naruto-kun?" She slowly muttered. Naruto was sleeping on a chair close to the bed. Hinata gazed at his peaceful face. To her, after not seeing him for so long, he looked even more handsome. She pushed herself up onto the bed and looked around the apartment. This was the first time she has ever been in Naruto's home, and it saddened her. The condition of the inside was very poor, even worse than the outside. "_Why should Naruto-kun have to live in a place like this?_" Hinata wondered. She stepped on the floor and made the wood creak. Naruto started stirring after hearing the sound.

"Hinata?" Naruto muttered. He lifted his head to see Hinata already awake. "Sorry for surprising you back there."

"Oh…don't…don't worry Naruto-kun." Hinata slowly said. "I…should be going now." Hinata attempted to make a quick exit.

"Hey wait! You forgot your flowers!" Naruto shouted. Hinata stopped as she was about to turn the doorknob.

"They're…they're for you…Naruto-kun."

"Really! Thanks Hinata! These would go great with the one I'm growing now!"

"You…you like to grow flowers?" Hinata asked surprisingly.

"Yeah! I like to have plants around." Naruto pulled out an empty vase and put water and the flowers into them. "They don't run away or try to hurt you…" He said solemnly. Hinata lowered her eyes again. She always knew that when Naruto was young, nobody liked him. The children that Naruto tried to make friends with always hurt him. The adult villagers hurt him as well.

"I had many more plants the third Hokage used to let me go in his own garden, but after I made friends, I gave them away, to show the bonds I developed with them." He placed the vase by the open window and grabbed his own plant. "I guess I can give you this!" He happily handed the plant he was growing to Hinata. Hinata gasped at the gift handed to her. "Think of it as a present for becoming a Jounin!"

"Tha…thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata held the plant close to her as she closed Naruto's door. Her face was as bright red as Rudolph's nose. She staggered across the hall, completely overwhelmed at what just happened.

Naruto took a look at his clock. It was getting late and Naruto didn't have dinner yet. His stomach growled as if a beast hadn't eaten for a week. Naruto turned his stove on and began boiling water for his instant cup of ramen. He reclined in his chair and pondered on today's events.

"_Why were Akatsuki after those guys? What do they want?_" Naruto heard his kettle boiling and switched the stove off. He poured the hot water into the ramen cup and let it sit for a bit. Then, Naruto heard some rustling outside his window. He turned around and saw the young kitsune, Shippo, tumbling into his apartment through the window, breaking Naruto's vase of flowers in the process.

"What the Hell! What are you doing here!" Naruto shouted. Shippo scratched the back of his head. He looked down and saw the vase he had broken. Naruto was now very pissed off.

"Sorry about your girlfriend's flowers…" Shippo grinned innocently.

"She's not my girlfriend! Wait a minute…how long was you spying on me?" Naruto gave an angry glare at Shippo. Shippo put on an even bigger innocent-looking grin.

"About the past half hour…" Shippo said. Naruto was about to unleashing his rage on the little fox demon, but two familiar voices were calling for the young kitsune. Then, Inuyasha with Kagome on his back popped into the window, glaring at Shippo.

"You know how long Kagome and I have been looking for you!" He shouted furiously and smashed the young demon on the head with his fist, causing Kagome to "sit" him. Which in turn, caused Inuyasha to argue with Kagome, and Shippo entered into the dispute. Naruto, completely confused, decided to let their feud cool off on it's on.

"So this is where you live?" Kagome took a look at the dwelling of Naruto. Kagome looked disgusted at the poor condition the apartment was in.

"You don't have very good hygiene do you?" Inuyasha insulted. Naruto decided to let it slide, for it somewhat true.

"Where's your mom?" Shippo added. "This place would be a lot cleaner if you had someone to help you. But, it looks like this place is meant for one person." Shippo looked at Naruto's depressed face, wondering what had he done wrong.

"Shippo, don't ask those type of questions." Kagome scolded.

"No…" Naruto interrupted. "It's fine. I don't have any parents of siblings, but it doesn't affect me." Naruto replaced his depress visage with a happy grin.

"I'm so sorry. We didn't know. Did they die in a fight?" Kagome spoke.

"No, I never knew my parents. But, life's been good for the most part! That's what really matters." Naruto replied. "How did it go with Tsunade-baa-chan?"

"It went fine. She said we can stay at her place until we can sort out this mess." Kagome said. "Since we found Shippo, I think we should head back for the night." Shippo and Inuyasha agreed to that; it had been a long day.

"See ya later whisker-face. And get ready to have your ass kicked tomorrow." Inuyasha taunted him.

"Yeah right dog-ears!" Naruto snickered. Kagome and Shippo jumped on Inuyasha's back and took off, getting ready for what's in store for them in the future.

* * *

**Chapter 5's done. That took a really long time to type. Sorry for the delay. All the schoolwork and athletic football practicing has taken a toll on my free time. For those reviewing, thank you, but please RxR. Also, can you check for correct grammar, spelling, prefixes, and suffixes? You guys can all so send in your thoughts of new missions involving both Naruto and Inuyasha characters. You guys can also inform me on other abilities Naraku and Inuyasha have. I'm not too familiar with those characters, but I do know that Naraku uses barriers, poison, insects, and absorbing other demonic powers, and Inuyasha can use Wind Scar, Red Tetsaiga, Diamond Tetsaiga, and Dragon-scaled Tetsaiga. I also want to explain the timeline where this story coincides with the Manga (spoiler). In chapter 310, Sai stated that they had about 6 months to save Sasuke. This story starts off a year after that 6 month interval, where Naruto saves Sasuke, and another 1 year interval where Team 7 took their training mission to get stronger. The training mission will come into play more in-depth later on. Coming up is a new mission in the Land of Waves. Old enemies reappear from both sides in the later chapters.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Jutsu**

_**Time or separate place**_

"Conversation"

"_Thoughts"

* * *

_

**Chapter 6: Mission: Find New Leader of the Sound**

An evil entity, disguised in a baboon cloak, stood on the ground of an old but very devastated battlefield. He looked around, to see if any sign of life was about, but all he found was a skeleton. The bones seemed to have been saturated with some type of ink. However, even after death, the bones were still emitting a small trace of chakra.

"This person might be useful…" The baboon cloaked person took out from his sleeve a shard of the Shikon Jewel. He placed it in the middle of the pile of bones. Soon, flesh started to regenerate around the bones. The skeleton took shape and formed a new body. He then knelt down in front of the baboon cloaked person.

"How may I serve you…Master Naraku?"

"Heh, he, he…First, tell me your name."

"Kabuto, Master Naraku. I'm a jounin ranked medical ninja." Kabuto introduced himself.

"Tell me," Naraku started, "Where can I find followers in this strange new realm?"

"Simple, I'm from a village named Sound, but since our last leader was killed, there is a void left that needs to be filled by you. However, rounding up the last members of the Sound will be difficult, Master Naraku."

"Do not worry; eventually everything will fall into place…" Naraku chuckled. He found another body that was buried. He dipped his tentacles into the ground and dug up the decaying body. A jewel shard was placed in the heart. Like Kabuto before, the body began to regenerate. The completed body then became the obedient servant of Naraku.

"How may I serve you?"

"Tell me, what's your name?"

"I don't have a name, but people call me…Sai."

* * *

_**Konoha…**_

A few weeks have past since Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke returned with their new friends. The first light of a new day shone upon the blond teen shinobi's face. Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see it was 6:00 a.m., but he was used to waking up this early, due to Ero-sennin's usual hangovers. He got up and did the usual morning business. After that, he dressed in his usual orange-black outfit. He set off to start his ninja training. Naruto figured that no one would bother him this early in the morning. In the early dawn, he set off to the training grounds. But first, a detour for him, Naruto stealthy leaped over the buildings and empty streets, landing on the Hokage Mountain.

Naruto stood on monument of Yondaime's head engraved in the mountainside and looked down upon the village. "_Just watch me Fourth. Someday, I'll lead this village as the greatest Hokage, and make you proud that you chose me to be the vessel of the Kyuubi._" As he was lost in his thoughts, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He was so startled that he nearly fell off the monument, letting some of his special ninja weapons fall out. He used his chakra to stick his feet to the mountainside and caught his gear that was falling. When Naruto recomposed himself, he aimed to see the intruder, who turned out to be Sakura.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura greeted as she helped him regain his balance on the top of the monument. "What are you doing up here so early."

"Just to go training." Naruto said with a large grin on his face. "Why are you up so early?"

Sakura noticed something about him she never noticed before. "_With that smile, he actually looks kind of handsome… What a minute! What am I thinking!_" Sakura shook the thought away and answered his question. "I was discussing with Ino-pig about what had happened the past year over the phone. I didn't get much sleep." Sakura added to her reply with a yawn.

"So how have you been?" Naruto asked her as he took a seat on the engraved head.

"How nice to ask me now!" Sakura angrily shouted. "After ignoring me for the past year!" Sakura was completely enraged and threw a fist at Naruto. Unknowingly, Naruto somehow dodged her strike with blinding speed. She continued on her rampage on the blond shinobi, but to no avail. Each of her attacks was evaded. Eventually, Sakura tired herself out. She looked to see if her victim was beaten to death, but to her dismay, Naruto was still standing, without a scratch on him.

"How did you do that?" Sakura huffed. She noticed the special kunai in Naruto's hand. "What is that in your hand?" Naruto handed the kunai to let her examine it. It was trident shaped on the top, a littler heavier than regular kunai, and there was a special seal on the handle. Sakura had seen this before, but couldn't place it. Then, she looked under her feet and found her answer.

"Naruto…you know what this kunai is used for?"

"Yeah! It lets me use this cool jutsu that's even faster than Fuzzy Eyebrow's speed and Sasuke's **Shunshin no Justu (Body Flicker Technique)**! But, I even don't know its name."

"Naruto," Sakura started explaining, "This seal on the kunai is used for the **Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)**."

"Really?" Naruto said astounded. "You know the name of it? Whoever used this technique must've been really strong."

"Do you know why _Konoha's Yellow Flash_ got his reputation?" Sakura asked him, but Naruto shook his head. "It's because of this jutsu. Not many people know of this jutsu. From what I know, only the Sannins and older ninjas in this village know of this, and I learned about it from reading Tsunade-sama's old scrolls. How did you learn this?"

"Follow me then! I'll tell you on the way to the training grounds." Naruto said. Sakura handed the kunai back to him and followed Naruto along the way.

"Remember back when I died after the fight with Orochimaru?" Sakura nodded her head to his question. "You can say I was having a near death experience. All the events of my life flashed before me while I was traveling though the 'tunnel'. At the end, I found this kunai. I don't know why, but it seemed familiar to me. After that, I was alive again, but the image of the kunai was engraved into my memory. There was no way for me to forget it." Sakura continued to be amazed by his description.

"While we were on that training mission, I had an old friend of mine make me this kunai. He was a blacksmith I met while on my travels with Ero-sennin. He also made extra copies of it for me. From that point on, I continued to train by myself. I had to master it and find out it's meaning on my own." Naruto finished his explanation.

"Did you accomplish that goal?" Sakura asked him inquisitively.

"Only one-half of it. I still don't the meaning to it. I spent most of my time mastering it alone during the past year. I also kicked Sasuke's ass with this jutsu." Naruto said with a large grin across his face. Sakura couldn't help but giggle a little. Sakura then realized why he was never around during the year-long training mission.

* * *

_**Flashback…about half a year ago…**_

"_Hey Sasuke!" Sakura shouted loudly and achieved his attention. They were in a forest far away from Konoha on their training mission. "Do you want have a spar?"_

"_Ok, at least it'll liven up this peaceful scenery."_

_Sasuke and Sakura fought their friendly match, but Sasuke was still as brutal as ever. After sparring from morning to evening, they were completely exhausted. Sasuke used some fire jutsu to start a fire and cook dinner. After their meal was finished cooking, Sakura took a seat next to Sasuke. To her surprise, Sasuke let Sakura get close to him. "_Naruto has really changed Sasuke._" She thought._

"_Sasuke, do you know where's Naruto?" Sakura asked him._

"_That dobe? Nope." _

"_That blond idiot!" Sakura shouted infuriated. "I haven't seen him all week, and the last time, he ran away from me! Why is that!"_

"_Because," Sasuke interrupted her moment of angry explosion, "He's needs to find something important by himself." Sasuke said, still as mysterious as ever._

**_End Flashback…

* * *

_**

"I'm sorry if that caused too much trouble for you, but I needed to find out alone." Naruto added.

"No it's ok." Sakura replied. "This was something you had to find out on your own. I just wished I could've helped somehow."

"Well, actually, that's not the whole reason…" Naruto stated, but was interrupted by a huge explosion coming from their destination. Naruto and Sakura quickly sped to find out the source of the explosion. When they arrived, they found Sasuke and Inuyasha, with both their swords drawn. Kagome and their group were there as well, watching the skirmish.

"It's about time you made it here dope. I would like you to see how weak a half-demon is." Sasuke smirked.

Inuyasha was extremely ticked off by his comment and lunged forward at Sasuke. Sasuke got out of his fighting pose and waited. The Tetsaiga transformed into it's diamond form. The blade of the Tetsaiga turned into a large diamond and launched many sharp diamond projectiles. A **Chidori **surrounded Sasuke's body and deflected all the shots. Sasuke rushed forward at high speed towards Inuyasha, with the Chidori-empowered blade ready. Inuyasha held up the Tetsaiga and waited to use his ultimate attack. However, Sasuke's Sharingan saw through the attack. Inuyasha swung his sword down, thinking Sasuke attack him, but the **Backlash Wave** didn't activate. Inuyasha then felt a sharp sensation against the back of his neck.

"Looks like I win." Sasuke stated. He retracted his blade and sheathed it. Inuyasha growled irately, but admitted defeat and sheathed the Tetsaiga.

"Sasuke, why are you up so early?" Sakura asked the Uchiha. Sasuke walked over to Shippo, glaring at him with a large amount of killing intent. Shippo clenched to Kagome's shoulder rigorously, but Sasuke easily removed the young demon.

"This little punk ate my rice balls this morning." Sasuke looked directly at Shippo with his Sharingan. "Since that half-breed lost, here's your punishment." Shippo covered his head, thinking that he would get hit. Instead, Sasuke sent a small amount of chakra through his arm into the young demon, electrocuting him. Sasuke dropped the body, allowing it to twitch and simmer.

"Hey dog-ears! Are you ready to get your ass kicked a second time?" Naruto challenged the Inuyasha.

"I'm going to beat the shit out of you first!" The battered Inuyasha drew the Tetsaiga and stood in a fighting stance. However, his left knee gave way and he toppled over.

"Inuyasha, I believe you should stop." Miroku helped him up. "You're too exhausted from that match with Sasuke, but I still can't believe that you stood up for Shippo before."

"Feh, don't get used to it." Inuyasha smirked. "Kagome would 'sit' me to death if I didn't." Miroku burst into laughter. Soon, the contagious laugh caused everyone around to laugh for a little while, except of course for Sasuke. However, their time of merriment was cut short when someone arrived.

"Shizune?" Sakura asked as she ran to help the panting Shizune, with Tonton by Shizune's side.

"Naruto…" Shizune huffed. "Tsunade-sama wishes to see you in your office now for a mission."

"Huh? Why only me?" Naruto asked her. "It better not be another D-ranked one."

"I don't know, but I do know it's pretty important." Shizune appeared to have caught Naruto's attention. Naruto waved good-bye to his teammates and left with Shizune to see the Hokage. When they arrived at the Hokage's place, Naruto found his other teammates for this mission.

"Kiba? Shino? Hinata?" Naruto said completely shocked. "What are you guys doing here?"

"The mission you brat!" Tsunade shouted angrily. "Normally, I wouldn't gather ninjas this early for a mission, but this one is of utter importance. It concerns the Sound." This statement shocked everyone. "Since you're all here now. I'll fill you in on the details. From what we have learned from Jiraiya's information gathering, it appears that the Sound have regrouped after the demise of Orochimaru. Not only that, they have a new leader. One that is believed to be stronger than Orochimaru."

"How's that possible!" Kiba shouted. "Orochimaru is as strong as they come. Who can be stronger than him?"

"We don't know." Tsunade sighed. "But what we do have is a photograph of the target from Jiraiya." Tsunade took the picture out and let the ninjas look at picture. From what they could see, it was a man in a baboon cloak concealing his face. "We don't know his objectives yet. Your mission is to track down this man and send anymore information back. This is a B-ranked mission that will have your team go to the Wave Country, with no time limit for the mission. We were informed the Sound was heading there next."

"The Land of Waves…" Naruto thought for a second. "That's where I had my first mission, and where the Bridge of Naruto is located. Cool! I can see Inari again!"

"Woah, wait a minute." Kiba interrupted. "You mean you have a bridge name after you? Since when!"

"That doesn't matter right now." Tsunade ended their conversation. "I chose this team because Team 8 is the best at tracking a target, and Naruto here because he's most familiar with your destination and Sound. One more thing." Tsunade pulled a kunai from her desk and threw it at the ceiling, causing the tiles to fall. Several bodies fell along with the tiles. They were Inuyasha and his crew "We have rats snooping about".

"Who are they, and why does that one stink so badly?" Kiba and his rather large ninken, Akamaru, covered their noses. Kiba pointed at the one in a red robe and silver hair.

"Hey! If anyone stinks in here it's you!" Inuyasha pointed back. Kagome took a glance at the photograph on the desk and knew exactly who he was.

"You guys, they have a picture of Naraku." Everyone immediately silenced at her statement. Inuyasha jostled threw everyone in the room to get a closer look. "Yep, it's the bastard alright."

"You guys know him?" Tsunade questioned.

"Yes," Sango replied. "He's our mortal enemy. He'll do anything for power, but why is he here?"

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata tapped him on the shoulder and got his attention. "Who are they?"

"You can explain everything later Naruto." Tsunade stood up from her seat. "It appears our guests know more about this guy than any of us. If it's not too much trouble, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, and Naruto, you'll be accompanied by our guests on the mission. Is that clear?" Everyone in the room nodded in response. "Good, your mission begins here! Now go!"

Naruto, Inuyasha, Hinata, Kagome, Sango, Shino, Kiba, Miroku, Akamaru, Shippo, and Kirara exited the Hokage's room. The ninjas quickly packed up their gear and led their guests to the gates that exit Konoha. The guards opened the gates for them, and they were off. Naruto, Hinata, Shino, and Inuyasha with Kagome on his back leapt on the branches of the trees. Kiba rode on Akamaru running on the forest floor, and Kirara had Miroku, Sango, and Shippo as her usual passengers on her back.

"Naruto…" Shino mumbled under his large neck collar. "Who are these guests of ours?"

"Them? We found them being attacked by some ninjas on the way back to Konoha. Don't worry; I'm pretty sure they'll be useful, somehow." Naruto answered.

"Then, why does he smell no horrible!" Kiba inquired. Akamaru barked in agreement. "He, that small guy and that overly large cat don't smell human."

"They'll tell when they want to Kiba-kun." Hinata said. "Please, don't go into people's business so often."

They traveled through the forest until it hit dusk. They decided to make camp before it got too dark. Shino and Miroku helped set up the tents, one for the guys, and another for the girls. Kiba, Akamaru, Sango, and Kirara went into the forest to fetch firewood. Shippo decided to tag along with Inuyasha and Kagome to find water, leaving Hinata and Naruto to find the food.

"So Hinata…How's life been treating you?" Naruto asked, trying to strike up a conversation with the shy girl.

"Well, it's been great. I've been training with Neji-ni-san and Hiashi-sama. My sister, Hanabi, was the top graduate from the academy when she became a ninja." Hinata softly replied, trying to hide the blush on her face.

"Cool, so when did you become a jounin? You must be pretty strong now! I'll have to watch my back!" Naruto said as he picked more berries from the bushes.

"While you were away for that, very long year." Hinata's voice sounded depressed when she said this.

"Hey, Hinata, is there something wrong?" However, he was cut short when an explosion went off from the camp site. Naruto and Hinata quickly ran to see what had happened, but they were to far away to make it on time.

Seeing that he had no choice, Naruto pulled out his special kunai and grabbed onto Hinata's wrist. Hinata was startled at the fact Naruto grabbed her so suddenly. She then saw what appeared to be an air void and Naruto dragged her into it. In a split second, they arrived at the battle scene.

Two gigantic monsters were attacking their comrades. One of them looked like an enormous plated lizard that towered over the trees with spikes on his back. His whipping tail toppled the forest under him. The other was a massive flying creature with a body of a dragon, and a head and legs of a bird. The flying creature spat fiery saliva that deteriorated anything that it touched.

Shino and Kiba were having a tough time trying to damage the plated lizard. Shino's bugs found no opening to drain chakra along the plated skin, and the tough skin and spikes also repelled Kiba's and Akamaru's **Gatsuuga**. Kirara had Sango and Miroku riding on her back, trying to defeat the flying beast. Sango's **Hiraikotsu **did minor damage to the beast, but not enough. It was even strong enough to escape Miroku's **Wind Tunnel**.

"Shit! Nothing's working." Kiba shouted as he tried a Gatsuuga again, but to no avail. The plated lizard whipped its tail and knocked Kiba away.

"Hinata." Shino called for her. "Use your Byakugan. Try to find any weak spot on this creature."

"Byakugan." Hinata used her bloodline to look into the two monstrous beasts. However, these creatures did not have chakra circulatory systems. It actually looked like the only thing in their body was chakra. The whole body was just skin, a thin middle layer, and an energy core.

"These things…aren't even alive." Hinata stumbled to find the correct words. "They have neither chakra circulatory systems nor even a single organ in their boy. Just skin and chakra."

"How are we supposed to take them down?" Kiba asked.

"Simple." Naruto smirked. He bit his thumb and performed the necessary seals. "Fight with something just as big. **Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)**!" Naruto slammed his hand into the ground. A giant puff of smoke blasted everyone away to make room for the Frog Boss, Gamabunta.

"Huh, what?" Gamabunta opened his eyes to see what was going on. "Oh great, it's you. Don't you know how late it is? I was sleeping you know."

"Come on Frog Boss! Fight with me!" Naruto pleaded. "Those guys are way too big to fight on my own." Gamabunta inhaled in some tobacco, and blew out right in front of the plated lizards face.

"Fine, fine." Gamabunta grumbled and pulled out his dagger. Down below, the rest watched in awe at the giant frog Naruto summoned.

"Hey Inuyasha, what's that up ahead?" Kagome asked while riding on Inuyasha's back with Shippo on his shoulder. They came back as quickly as they found out what was happening. It appeared to be a gigantic bird, a large lizard, and an overly huge frog. Inuyasha sped up to see what the deal with the three beasts was.

"Hey, would anyone mind telling us what is going on?" Inuyasha asked as he arrived on the scene, letting Kagome and Shippo off his back.

"Those two demons attacked us, but that Naruto guy summoned that frog to aid us." Miroku explained the situation.

"What! You're telling me that whisker-face over there pulled out something as big as that!" Inuyasha said astonished.

Meanwhile, Gamabunta launched to first attack. He pulled his dagger and jumped up to stab the flying demon, but it flew out of Gamabunta's range. Gamabunta then attacked the plated reptilian demon. Gamabunta dodged its spiked tail and made for its head. Gamabunta's blade was actually able to impale the demon's tough skin, but got stuck in his head. He had no chose by to leave it. The plated demon roared in pain, having a sharp object stuck in his head. Gamabunta leapt up and landed on top of his blade. His weight caused the dagger to slice straight through the demon. The demon was finally beaten. His body started to fall apart and melted.

However, there was still the matter of the flying demon. It swooped down and grabbed Gamabunta by his shoulders. "That's it!" Gamabunta used his feet to form a seal. "Kid, I need you to use a fire technique, or something that can ignite oil." Naruto nodded and pulled out a regular kunai with an explosive tag attached. "**Katon: Gamayu Endan (Fire Element: Toad Oil Flame Bullet)!**" Gamabuta spat oil, and Naruto threw his kunai simultaneously. The tag blew up and ignited the oil, producing one powerful fire attack. The combination fire jutsu roasted the flying menace. The demon shrieked in agony as it freed the Frog Boss. It struggled to maintain flight, until it ultimately exploded in midair. Gamabunta and Naruto safely landed away from the explosion.

"Naruto-kun…you did it." Hinata stared at Naruto's accomplishment. Gamabunta sheathed his dagger and went poof. Naruto jumped off the Frog Boss at the last second and landed next to everyone.

"Nice job!" Kiba punched him lightly on the shoulder, showing his gratitude and congrates. Akamaru also showed his appreciation with one long, sloppy lick.

"Feh…" Inuyasha grunted. "I could've beaten those two easily."

"Don't be so down Inuyasha." Shippo said. "He just got here first."

"What were those two creatures?" Shino demanded their guests to answer. Sango and Miroku were the ones to answer.

"From the spider marks on their backs, we deduced that they are detachments from Naraku." Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino gave a dumbfounded look at her statement. "Naraku is a demon. He possesses the ability to make other demons to do his bidding by detaching body parts. He probably sent those two to stop us, but why?" Miroku pondered.

"Who cares…" Naruto yawned in the middle of his sentence. "Time to get some sleep." He went into the nearest camping tent and tucked himself in.

"You know that's the girls' tent right?"

* * *

**Chapter 6 is finished. How do like this? Naraku will play a much deeper role later. Please RxR. I don't know what I'm doing wrong to get more of those. Flames are alright. They tell me what's wrong. I might but in a few OC's, I'm thinking of three Akatsuki members based on other characters from different shows. Tell me what you guys think.**


End file.
